Beyond the last lock
by bloodylucy
Summary: After hearing that his friend has fallen down a burning suspension bridge, Edgeworth flies across half the world to make sure he's alright. Gladly, Phoenix has just a cold, but in his fever he's behaving really weird! And then he even forces all his stuff on Edgeworth and drags him deeper into this story than he had liked to... MilesxPhoenix
1. Chapter 1

_Hello everyone and welcome to a new fanfiction!  
_ _I played through the Ace Attorney Triology and just couldn't NOT write this. You understand how I feel, wright?  
This game has taken over my heart and especially during that last episode of the third game I kept rolling on the floor fangirl squealing._

 _But still, this episode had many many wholes don't you think? For example the conversation between Edgeworth and Phoenix in the hospital! It's time someone came and filled those wholes with some sweet (b)romance, and here I am!  
So please enjoy! (Ace Attorney and all its characters belong to Capcom, of course)_

* * *

 **The birth of defense attorney Edgeworth!**

I can't believe that I'm doing this. I really can't. When in my life has come that point, where I would drop anything and fly around half the world if necessary after hearing this one name?

A voice I absolutely can't stand calls me in the middle of the night, shouts that name at me and combines it with the words 'might die' and I just jump up and come running as fast as I can.

Who would do something as stupid as that?

I call this guy my friend, but isn't he actually my enemy? I, a prosecutor, and he, a defense attorney ... just how many times did we face each other in court and had fights, wars almost, to the blood?

Yes, he's my enemy! So why am I chartering a private jet, flying hundreds and thousands of miles, just to make sure that he's alive?

Why do I feel so extremely anxious and unsettled ever since this call and why is my heart overturning as I'm standing in the hospital, in front of his door, not knowing what I'll see when I open it?

I take a deep breath. And then I take another one. And maybe just another little …? What am I doing?! I force myself to open the door and before I know it, my feet have already carried me to his bed, to look at that pathetic picture of misery that dares to call himself my archnemesis.

Finally I dare to breathe out. There he lies, bruised, unconscious, but alive. My knees give in and I let myself fall on the chair standing next to the bed. Phoenix Wright, just what has happened to you? Just how did it come to this?

I fight the urge to jump up again and leave after I made sure his heart is still beating, just as much as I fight the urge to take his hand. I just sit there and stare at his sleeping face. This might be the first time I've ever seen it. Of course, it is.

Butz said he wanted me to come and see him actually, but I just couldn't go anywhere until I haven't seen Wright. And now, what am I doing here? Wright isn't even conscious.

Just as I'm thinking it, I see his eyes flattering slightly and a deep, pained groan escapes from his lips.

"Water...", he mumbles with a sore throat.

Immediately I jump up, wondering whether I should call a nurse, but then I decide that I should be able to deal with something that simple on my own. I look around and quickly find a cup standing next to the bed and fill it with water.

Carefully I help Wright sitting up and put the cup to his lips. He slowly gulps the fluid down, having a pained expression while he does so. He feels incredibly hot, he must have a high fever.

No miracle here, since he seemed to have fallen into a freezing cold river. The miracle is, that he survived that fall from 40 feet height.

After a few gulps Wright seems to become calmer and he drinks even slower. Finally he looks at me. Our eyes lock and for a few seconds we just stare at each other.

Suddenly his eyes gape and he spits the water he just wanted to swallow right into my face.  
"Edgeworth?!", he screams in shock.

I draw back and sigh disgusted, trying to get my face dry again. Wright blinks a couple of times and lets himself sink back into his pillow.

"I must be still dreaming...", Wright mumbles as his eyes fall shut again.

"Hey!", I run back to him and shake him a little, "you're not dreaming! Don't fall asleep again!"

There are so many questions I have to ask him and who knows when he'll wake up after he falls asleep now. I have no time for this!

"Really...? You're really here?", Wright tries hard to keep his eyes open, even though it doesn't seem easy for him.

"Yes, really!", I answer him.

"Why?", he asks me the very same question I have been asking myself for several hours now. And I still haven't found an answer.  
"Well... Larry called me and told me you had this accident and I... I thought...", I mumble. I really don't know what to say. No matter what, it would sound stupid and give him weird ideas.

"You came... for me?", Wright asks disbelieving.

Exactly that kind of weird ideas. I gulp and feel my face heating up, but I'm definitely not blushing!

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Wright!", I hiss at him, "I came here, because... reasons..."

Is that a faint smile drifting over his face? I surely hope not. For him, that is.

"I heard you ran across a burning suspension bridge? Who would do something like that? Ridiculous! You deserve lying here! You sure are lucky that you got away with some bruises and a cold!", I snort. Sometimes I don't even know why I'm so aggressive. Even towards a defenseless defense attorney. It's the job.

"Bridge...?", Wright takes his sweet time to recollect himself, "Oh no! Maya! What about Maya?! How is she?!"

He suddenly is really worked up. I see the troubled expression in his face. Maya? What about Maya? Could it be that...?

"So that's why? Because of her? Was she on the other side?", I almost bite my tongue. What is this bitter feeling I have, imagining that that scaredy-cat Wright would run across a burning suspension bridge just for that girl?

"Maya... I hope she's alright... it's so cold and she... poor Maya...", he mumbles in his fever.

So I was right. I don't even want to think about how much she means to him. But I myself am worried. There's no tiny bit of information I have about what has happened since I immediately went here.

I wished I could tell him good news and calm him down. I hope there is good news.

"I'm sure she's alright. I will find out and report to you immediately!", that's all I can say for now.

I already turn for the door, then I hear his mumbling continue.

"And Iris... Iris... oh no...", he gasps.

Okay. Now who the fuck is Iris?!

"I have to... have to...", he pants for air and tries to stand up.

Just how reckless can he be? I turn back and push him into his bed again.

"You don't have to do anything but lying and resting!", I tell him insistent. I almost feel like his mom.

"But... but... Iris...", he suddenly grabs my sleeve and looks at me. "Edgeworth... thank god you're here."

His face is high red, his eyes pretty unfocused, I'm not sure whether he's really grasping the whole situation. I doubt it even more when he suddenly puts a small green gem into my hand.

"Take this... you'll need it", he explains to me without explaining anything at all.

"What is this?", I ask him baffled.

"It's a... magatama... it let's you see into people's hearts", he mumbles, still refusing to let go of my sleeve. "you'll see the... psyche-locks then. Just use it."

"Huh?!", what the hell is going on with him? Did he hit his head when he fell into the river. "What utter nonsense this-"

I would have very well liked to shout at him and put this weird gem back into his hand, but he looks at me so pathetically and begging that I just can't bring myself to do it. I sigh and let the gem slide into my pocket. Wright nods content.

"You'll see it... when the time comes..."

He's talking like an old man. Somehow I'm disappointed. Regardless the fact that he was hanging around with self-proclaimed spirit media I always had the opinion that he was a man of clear human reason and logic. But that just destroyed it for me.

"Iris... damn it...", he suddenly starts again, panting for air, his fever increasing even more. I wonder whether I should fetch a nurse, but I just can't hold back on this question anymore.

"Who is Iris?", I ask him confused, yet unable to hide the slight hostile tone in my voice.

Still, Wright didn't seem to have noticed it.

"Iris, she...", he opens his mouth to answer, "Who is she...?"

What?! What kind of answer is this? This is no answer at all! Does that mean he was mumbling the name of some random woman he doesn't even know?!

After some more drops of water Wright explains it to me. Or at least some hazy basic data. About Iris the nun, the murder up in the mountains, Maya on the other side of the bridge. Only enough to have a slight idea of what has happened. Larry will tell me the rest later. Hopefully...

I still haven't found an answer to the question of my being here after all. What am I supposed to do?

Wright's state becomes worse again, he breathes heavily and is once again on the brink of unconsciousness. There is no reason for me to stay here any longer. Though I feel sorry for him. He really seems to want to help this Iris person, but he won't be able to do anything in this condition.

Once again I turn to go, once again I'm held back by Wright. This time he's grabbing my hand and holding it as tightly as possible.

"Iris...", he coughs again. I somehow can't hear this anymore.

I turn around and look at him, he stares at me feverishly with glassy eyes. What is going on inside of his head?

Then something utterly weird happens. With all his remaining strength Wright draws me towards him, puts his other hand on my cheek and... kisses me?!

It is definitely happening, our lips are touching, but... what the...?! I feel unable to draw back for several seconds, frozen on the spot, feeling his soft lips on mine. The heat is slowly crawling through my body and is making my head feel dizzy. I might even loose consciousness before Wright does.

Finally I get myself to draw back and scream at him.

"What are you doing?! Do you want to pass your cold onto me?!", I shout, turn around and run out of the room.

I barely manage to shut the door behind me loudly and vehemently, before my knees give in and I drop to the floor. What was that just now?!

We kissed, why the hell did we kiss? And why was the only objection I came up with in this moment, that I didn't want his cold to be passed onto me?

I'm a prosecutor! I have the ability to come up with the most ridiculous objections in any situation and make them sound perfectly logical. That's my job. But what was that just now? That was the saddest objection I've ever risen.

I try to catch my breath, but my heart is still racing like never before. Damn it! I try to push the thought away, that this has just been my first kiss. I don't know for how long I have been sitting there until I calmed down enough, but then, suddenly, I recognized that Wright really did pass something onto me.

I've had my hand cramped in shock and disturbance the whole time, but then I realize, that I seem to have something cold and metal holding in them.

I open my hand and almost choke when I realize what Wright has put in it there. It's his attorney badge. Just what is he planning? He can't be thinking what I think he is, can he?!


	2. Questioning

_Welcome to the second chapter! Thank you for making it all the way here!_

 _By the way, I also have a tumblr account, so if you feel like it, check it out! My nick there is bloodylucy93._

 _Thanks for reading and enjoy!_

* * *

 **Questioning**

I somehow made it. However I managed to get through this morning, I did it. What a weird, weird day. I should have never returned here.

Who would have thought that I'd ever act as a defense attorney in court, facing my own sister and her wicked whip and trying my best to save that woman from the noose.

 _Iris._ I still hear Wright mumbling her name in pain. And now I had the great honor of meeting that woman that is so important to him, that he is putting her life in my hands.

She's beautiful, cute and kind, I'm sure she is just his type. And the way she was acting all mysterious about her relationship with Wright, there has to be something going on between those two.

Just why is it bothering me so much? I have a hard time breathing when I think about it. When I don't do my best shoving the thoughts away, I suddenly feel Wright's lips on mine again and my heart starts racing. No matter how hard I try to understand it - Wright's actions and my confusion - I just don't.

But I've managed to do what I had to, I planted some doubt in the heart of the judge and had the court adjourned. Wright will be released from hospital in a few hours, so this utterly twisted case is now his problem. Time to bring him his badge and his miracle-gem back.

Still it costs me quite an effort to bring myself to see him again. There are so many questions I have to ask him and I don't even know whether I want to know the answers. But still better than this preying uncertainty that's almost eating me up.

With a racing heartbeat I'm standing in front of his door. The very door I had shut so loudly behind me just the other day. I wonder what face he'll make when I open it now again.

The answer delights and disappoints me at the same time. As I open the door, Wright gapes his eyes and quickly shuts his notebook on his lap before I can see what he's been watching.

"Edgeworth!", he shouts at me excited, "How did it go?!"

I don't quite know what to think of this. Somehow I had expected some embarrassment, some red cheeks or anything that would show me that he had spent a comparable amount of time with thinking about that kiss yesterday, as I did. But there's nothing to be read in his face. It's almost like it never happened. Or the outcome of the trial today is so much more important to him.

"What do you think?", I snort at him, slightly more aggressive than usual. I can't help it. I sit down next to him, on this very chair I sat yesterday, and glare at him as arrogant as possible. "The trial has been adjourned until tomorrow."

"Oh thank god!", Wright looks like a huge stone just fell from his heart, "you're awesome, Edgeworth, thank you!"

It's not like we've won yet, in the contrary it still looks pretty bad for us, but right now I can't remember the last time I have seen him this happy. The thought that it was my effort that caused that, makes my heart jump a little and I curse it for that.

"Any news on Maya?", he suddenly asks me, with huge eyes again.

I sigh and shake my head. "I'm afraid not. They're still working on the repairs of the bridge", I answer him honestly. I really had wished I could have brought him some better news.

"I see ...", Wright suddenly looks down, but only for a moment. Then he decides to pull himself together again. "Now then, tell me everything about the trial today! What happened? What did you find out?"

Before I answer him all his questions I look at him for another few seconds. He's so excited about the trial, that there's nothing else on his mind, even though all that is ever on my mind is just this... damn, what am I thinking about again?  
I take a deep breath and start talking about the trial, about all the genius contradictions I've found and how I drove Franziska close to desperation. Of course, while doing so, I carefully keep quiet about the frustration and despair I went through myself, the straws I clutched and the penalties I got from the judge because I came up with too ridiculous and far-fetched ideas.

It's the outcome that counts.

"Wow, Edgeworth, you're really awesome. You rocked that trial didn't you?", Wright looks at me with huge eyes. I shrug.

"Does that truly surprise you?", I hiss. I've learned from the best after all. "It was quite a nice relief, but I suppose I will stick to prosecuting after all."

Wright nods eased. Maybe suddenly pushing all this onto me did burden him a bit after all.

"That's good to hear. And I already feared you wouldn't want to give me my badge back", he grins at his own joke. He seems to have missed the fact that I haven't yet given him his bloody badge back.

"What makes you so sure I'll return it to you?", I cock my head and smirk at him.

All of a sudden Wright's smile falls apart and is replaced by a shocked gaze.  
"Hey, what...? Stop joking and give it back to me already!", he holds his open palm beneath my nose, waiting for me to place it in there.

"Not yet. It's my turn now for asking questions", I cross my arms and lean back.

Wright pulls his hand back and gulps. "What questions?"

"You and this woman. Iris. What is your relationship?", I ask him straight-forward.

I can't believe myself how calm I am asking a question like this.

"What?!", Wright's jaw almost hits the floor, "Why do you think something like...?! There's nothing going on between the two of us or anything! I just met her two days ago for the very first time. And we barely talked!"

I snort at Wright's weak answer. Now I get how he manages to get through his trials. What an incredible advantage it is, to be able to look through other people's lies.

"Say, Wright, do you still remember giving me this?", I ask him with slight arrogance and weigh the green gem in my hands.

"The magatama!", he yells at me. He seems to have forgotten.

"This is really a very useful item. I don't think I need to point out to you that, right now, I'm seeing a pretty intimidating number of – how were these called again? - psyche-locks, right in front of you."

Wright gulps and nibbles his lips. "So what? Do you want to try breaking them? I don't think you have enough -"

"Oh no, don't get me wrong!", I shrug and shake my head, "I don't intend breaking these locks. Actually, I don't really give a damn about whatever is going on between you and this woman."

I'm so glad that I am the one holding that magatama thing right now. If it was the other way round, it would have been Wright, who'd see a couple of psyche-locks now. The truth is that just seeing these locks and knowing that Wright is lying and hiding something from me made me so anxious and insecure, that I just don't think I could take the answer right now.

"I just wanted to make sure that this thing is really working on you. So that I can ask you a far more interesting question."

Wright, still biting his lips, now also raises one brow. It's slightly vibrating, so I figure that he's quite nervous.

"What question?", he asks me with a trembling voice, "stop making fun of me. Don't forget that I'm still... still... ACHOOOOOOO... sniff... sniff … sick!"

He pulls out a handkerchief and wipes his nose. Of course I wouldn't forget something like this.

"Oh, be assured that I'm not making fun of you. If anything, it's the other way round, isn't it?", I start and try to not avoid his confused look. "Why did you kiss me yesterday?"


	3. The deal

_Welcome to chapter 3! I still haven't broken my weekly flow, although it's getting close..._

 _I'm so busy lately, I think I'm slowly turning mad. Maybe I already am._

 _Anyway, enjoy the new chapter!_

* * *

 _Just when Phoenix had expected it less, Edgeworth pointed the Magatama at him and suddenly asked him about the kiss! What will he answer?!_

 **The deal**

I witness how Wright's face falls apart, his jaw hitting the floor and his face slowly turning red. He obviously hadn't expected me to come up with this topic now. But that's also something, that is my job as a prosecutor: Coming up with stuff the defense hadn't expected.

"I... I... I don't know what you're talking about!", he quickly stammers almost shouting.

I try hard not to let on my shock when I see the psyche-locks in front of me doubling and tripling. What is this? I've never once seen these many at once and I've unraveled some pretty dark secrets the other day with this thing.

Well, I don't know what I was expecting, but it wouldn't be quite that easy.

"Oh please! You remember the conversation we had yesterday, right? So you must remember how it ended!", I hiss at him. Do I really have to go through all this lock-breaking shit now?

"I... I... no, I don't. The fever and everything, I … I can barely remember anything", he mumbles and theatrically lets himself fall back in the bed.

"Is that your testimony? That you can't remember anything?", I ask him dry but calmly. You want to play this game, Wright? Then we will play it.

"What are you talking about all of a sudden? Testimony?", he's getting more confused with every moment and looks a bit like a cornered animal, just like he does in court sometimes, "If you want to call it like that, yes..."

"Is that so, then I won't believe a word you say. If you truly couldn't remember, I wouldn't be able to see pyche-locks right now, wouldn't I?", I will make him regret, that he ever gave all this stuff to me and put me in such a situation in the first place.

"Well, I... OBJECTION!", he yells at me, pretty lively for a sick man, "can you prove that you actually see these psyche-locks? It won't count if you're the only one seeing them!"

He seems to be pretty into this all of a sudden himself. This could become interesting.

"And besides, we're not in court and you are not a defense attorney, so stop your cross-examination!", he mumbles, but all I hear are shrieks of plain horror and panic.

"Aha, well I have something right here that proves otherwise", I draw his attorney's badge out of my pocket and hold it in his face. He looks at it with huge shocked eyes.

"My badge! Now give me my stuff back already!", he leaps up again and glares at me.

"You remember giving this to me, don't you?", I ask him, still calmly.

"Well, yes, I do. I wanted you to help me with this case, but now ..."

"Now this is interesting", finally I've got him, "So you can remember giving me this badge, but can't remember kissing me. Even though these two things have happened simultaneously. Can you explain this to me?"

If I remember this right, he put the badge into my hand the very moment he put his lips on mine. And I'm sure I remember this right.

Wright flinches and I see the first lock shattering. It makes me feel relieved a bit, even though there are still quite a lot to go.

"Well, I … I … okay, maybe I can still remember … shadows of something, that … might could have been a kiss." He avoids looking at me. He avoids looking at anything.

"Then tell me already! Why did you do it?", the impatience returns. It's almost killing me.

"Why … I … it was the fever, okay? People do weird things when they're sick!", he mumbles excited.

"Stop blaming it on the fever! No matter how high someones fever is, no one runs around and randomly kisses people!", I snort at him, slowly getting mad.

"It wasn't random, I -!", Wright starts but quickly stops and blushes even more. He bites his lip and sinks deeper in his bed.

"So it wasn't random? You did it on purpose and it wasn't just because I happened to be there?", I dig deeper. Thanks to his cold, his defense is pretty low and he's quite easy to attack. But still the remaining locks show no signs of breaking any time soon.

"Wright, I want you to tell me one thing!", I sigh and try to pull myself together. "You were mumbling this woman's name several times back then. Did you kiss me because in your fever you mistook me for her? Did you actually think you were kissing Iris?"

It was hard to get this question across my lips. But somehow it had worked out. And now I'm waiting to see a reaction. And I don't have to wait long.

"What?!", Wright jumps up, his eyes gaped of shock and his whole body shaking slightly. "No, what are you thinking? I told you, there's nothing going on between me and her! I ..."

I have a hard time hiding my surprise when I see another lock breaking down just like that.

"Listen, Edgeworth, whatever you think, don't believe that. It's just not true and I can't take it, when you think something like ...", he clenches his fists and another lock shatters.

"I swear to you, when I kissed you, I didn't mistake you for anybody. And definitely not for Iris. You have to believe me!", he almost looks desperate and the locks shatter one after another.

I havn't counted them when it all began, but after Wright's cute outburst, there are still four remaining.

"Do I? So you tell me you intended to kiss me? You purposely kissed me? Then tell me why already!", I stand up from my seat and make a step closer to the bed, where Wright is sitting right now.

We're close now, maybe too close. He looks at me, but then quickly turns at the floor.

"I … I can't tell you. Please stop this already", he mutters. I can't take it anymore.  
"Well then, what about a deal?", I ask him coldly.

He looks back at me, slightly confused. "A deal?"

He waits for an answer, but instead I bow down, grab the back of his head and put my lips on his before he can even react. I was prepared for it, I built up a barricade inside my head to avoid any weird feelings taking over, but it's futile. The heat is creeping through the cracks of my wall like poisonous mist and takes over every corner of my body.

Letting him go I quickly take a deep breath and blow out the words with my last strength.

"If you tell me why you kissed me, I'll tell you why I kissed you."

My heart races and I feel the blood rushing to my head. Why did I just do that? It takes me a while until I can bring myself to looking into Wright's eyes again.

He's frozen stiff, yet shivers slightly, his breath is week and he looks at me with such a high red face, that I'm worrying a bit he could faint on me. A few seconds pass until he finally looks at me again and three locks simultaneously explode in my face.

I gasp for air in shock, as I hadn't expected this at all. There's only one remaining now. Only one.

He moves his lips as if he's trying to say something, but no words come out. When he looks so cute and defenseless, I almost feel like kissing him again or doing other things to him. Why the hell did I do that? How am I supposed to hold back now?

I can't wait, I'm drawn to him once again, his warm breath on my cheeks. The plan was one single kiss until he answered, but … well screw the plan!

As I'm only inches away from him, he suddenly stops me. His hands on my shoulder and his eyes suddenly firm and determined. Almost like in court when he's made up his mind.  
"No!", he tells me, "Hold it!"

I don't agree with him and already open my mouth to shout 'Objection!', but then he goes on.

"I can't … right now... I have a case and I still don't know what happened to Maya. Before I'm not sure she's safe and sound, I just can't …"

I draw back and bite my lip. There is no way I can argue against this.

"Fine!", I take his badge and his gem and almost throw them at him a bit angrier than intended, "but then I will come and break that last lock! Be prepared! I don't need your magical gems for this!"

Before he can say anything more I turn around and leave. I don't know myself why I'm behaving like that, he's right when he says that the murder case and Maya's safety have priority over … what is this even? If I just knew …


	4. La bonne cuisine

_New week, new chapter! I still can't believe that I manage to update weekly... until now  
I'm already apologizing beforehand, I'm making a bit fun of Germans here ...  
But I'm allowed to do that, I'm German myself ;)_

* * *

 **La bonne cuisine**

The atmosphere is so tense and the air is so thick, barely anybody dares to breathe. It's rare for me to sit in the guests' places of the court room, just as rare as it had been to stand on the defense's side. It feels weird and somehow messed up, to watch Wright from above and not from the other side of the court room.

I gulp. This time I'm glad that I don't have to face him. Iris is innocent, this fact has been pretty much established by now. I hate admitting it, but Wright really is a genius in his own way. It's dazzling to watch him and just listening to what he has to say, without feeling the need to find holes and weaknesses in his theories.

Somehow we had managed to ignore what has happened between the two of us yesterday and gotten along more or less during the investigations. Neither of us has lost another word about this. Not until this trial is over.

Maya is back. Thank god. She's standing in the witnesses stand, trying desperately to keep Wright from proving what everyone already knows: The identity of the true murderer.

Even for me, who has more distance to this case than everyone else here, this tastes really bitter. Whenever I face Wright in court or work together with him like today, I start doubting my sense of justice. And of reality. What am I supposed to think about all this channeling stuff? I always told myself that it's nonsense, but how long do I want to keep denying what I'm seeing with my own eyes?

There has been a woman in this very room, that had been dead for over a month. Even the judge seems to have accepted it. But it's still ….

I flinch when the gavel of the judge hammers down with a loud noise and the verdict echos in the whole room. Not guilty. And the true murderer was no one else than the prosecutor Godot. What a tragic figure this man is. He's gone through so much, has lost so much.

I can't keep myself from hoping that he'll get a lousy prosecutor when his trial comes. I shake my head and sigh.

Godot is being brought away, the guests stand up and leave. I remain seated, I still need some time to swallow down all what I've just heard.

Even though Iris hasn't been found guilty for murder, she will be convicted right away again for complicity. Desperately I try to push the delight away, that I feel thinking about this. Learning that Wright had actually dated her for several months and that she … even confessed her feelings to him in this court. Why is all this squeezing my heart so much?

Was that the reason why Wright wanted to help her that desperately? Because he also still had feelings for her?

The more I think about it, the more I get scared about the clarifying talk that's still pending. Maybe I should just quickly get into the next plane and leave the country again.

But I didn't do it. Instead I walked into the defendant's lobby, a place I frequent far too often lately, and let myself be drawn into even more humiliation. And if that wasn't enough already, I let myself then be drawn to a horrendous so-called "french restaurant", with Gumshoe and Franziska at that.

Wright and Maya were searching for the girl that has apparently disappeared after the trial. Are they alright on their own, I wonder? I hope they won't take too long and leave me alone with these freaks. Or wouldn't it be even more awkward with him here? I don't know what to think anymore.

"I hate french cuisine!", Franziska snorts derisively as she sits down at one of the tables.

Of course, as a German, she has a certain … special relationship to her neighbors, the French. Funnily enough she used a french word when she expressed her hatred towards it.

"A beer!", she yells at the waitress.

I hide my face in my palms. Oh no, there she goes again. This will get ugly. For one moment I think, that it might be a good thing having a policeman around already, but when I look into Gumshoe's oblivious face, I want to hide beneath the table.

"Ehm … sorry miss, but … this is a french restaurant so we don't have any beer, just wine", the waitress mutters disturbed. She must be totally out of luck to have Franziska as one of her guests.

"And besides, we cannot offer any alcohol to underage -"

"This is exactly why I hate this country!", Franziska snaps and cracks her whip, "You let people run around with guns, but piss your pants over a little beer."

She jumps up and looks like she wants to tear this whole place down.

 _(A/N: In Germany the consumption of beer and whine is legal with the age of sixteen. Don't drink booze if you don't have the legal age in your country yet! Alcohol is bad!)_

"Franziska, calm down ...", I try to talk to her, but I know it's over already. This is not some minor matter. This is about beer.

"Miss von Karma, I don't know what you mean ...", Gumshoe blinks several times confused. "I have a gun and I like my gun. I don't like using it, but ..."

"You foolish fool!", Franzi whips him manically, "the fact alone that you are allowed to carry a gun is proof enough to me that there is something utterly wrong with this foolish country of foolishness full of foolish fools!"

Sometimes I wonder how she manages it, that her tongue doesn't break. Mine would.

"I'm a policeman ...", Gumshoe tries to justify himself, but it's almost impossible to hear his words between the cracking of the whip and his pathetic whimpers of pain.

"Oh please, leave poor Mr. Gumshoe alone! I'll bring you everything you want!", the waitress tries to intervene. "Except for we don't have any beer ..."

"Huh!", Franziska snorts and lets herself fall back on her chair, "I wouldn't want to drink your miserable excuse for beer anyways!"

I wouldn't have thought that I'd be that delighted when the food finally comes and Franziska has a new and proper reason to complain. None of us really manages to get that barely edible stuff down, even though Gumshoe really tries for the waitress' sake, but then finally our savior appears.

The very moment Wright, Maya and the little girl step into the room, Maya seems to suddenly remember that she hasn't eaten anything in three days and wipes all of our plates empty in almost no time. And then she orders another ridiculous mass of food, on Wrights costs of course.

I would never admit it, but it's actually quite funny hanging around with these guys. Maybe I could get used to it.

"So now, Miles Edgeworth, tell me already why you are even here!", suddenly Franziska at me again, her face slightly flushed. She seems to have gotten several glasses of whine now anyway, and Gumshoe, our great policeman, has done nothing against it. "What a foolish fool would come into a country with high earthquake quotes when he's afraid of them?"

I bite my lips and avoid her look. Why does she need to come up with this now? I still haven't quite gotten over the shock of loosing the murder suspect, because I was paralyzed by fear. If this hadn't happened … only because of this all this chaos could start.

"You know, you should just come to Germany with me. We don't have any earthquakes. What do you say? My plane leaves this evening and it would be a huge bother for me to take care of such a incompetent imbecile, but it can't be helped. We're still family after all", she hisses and points her whip at me.

Oh my. I don't know why, but I feel kind of touched by those words. It's Franziska's messed up way of showing me, that she cares about me. At least that's what I want to believe since the alternative would be that she means exactly what she says.

Even though, going with her to Germany is no option for me. There are a lot of other things I need to take care of.

"Thanks for the offer Franziska, but I think I'll stay here for a little more", I answer her calmly.

She shrugs and snorts slightly offended.

"Oh that's, right, Mr. Edgeworth!", Maya suddenly starts to contribute to the conversation. It's the first time since she's arrived, that her mouth is actually empty enough to form words, "you came all the way here, but you don't even have a place to stay here anymore?! That's horrible, why don't you just come and stay at Nick's place?"

Wright and I both simultaneously flinch and widen our eyes.

"Wh-what are you suggesting Maya?!", Wright stammers shocked, "you forgot that Edgeworth is this kind of guy who wears expensive clothes and drives a red sports car. I'm sure he'd rather sleep in a huge, comfortable bed of a five stars hotel than on a tiny old couch. And that's all I have to offer, you know that!"

Yes, indeed, Wright is absolutely right. I couldn't formulate it any better. I'm a prosecutor after all, no defense attorney. I have class and the money to afford it. So please someone explain to me, why this is not the answer I'm giving but:

"Oh, I think this would be a nice idea, actually. All this five stars luxury has come to bore me a little."

Wright's face falls apart. This has been the last thing he had expected, as it seems. And then I suddenly wonder why he is so surprised. Haven't I warned him? Right, there was still something that I had to finish here.


	5. Back Home

_Tataaa! Ne_ _w chapter! It's November and thus it is NaNoWriMo! Yay! That month people usually write novels._

 _But I'm so behind my writing schedule that I will rather finish some stuff this year... like this fanfiction for example!_

 _That means I will try to finish this story as quickly as possible and won't waste too much time on thinking what I'm actually writing.  
Let's see how this will turn out!_

* * *

 **Back Home**

After the party was over and Franziska left for the airport, I visited Wright's home for the very first time in my life. I don't quite know why I have expected a run down single apartment, but the place I step foot in isn't like that at all.

It's a rather spacious apartment, not too big but not too small either. And it feels warm and comfortable, slightly messy but more or less cleaned up. Really absolutely nothing like I had expected. But maybe that's because I hadn't expected Wright and Maya to be living together here.

I was a bit confused when Maya tagged along with us totally naturally even though she had referred to this as 'Nick's place', but she obviously had her room here. Somehow, I don't know what to think about this.

"Well, I think I'm going to bed for now. I'm really exhausted after all this and just can't wait to sleep in my bed again!", Maya smiles at us broadly, "be nice to our guest, Nick! Please don't fight too much. Have a nice stay here, Mr. Edgeworth!"

I nod at her thankfully, as she already walks towards a door at the end of the hallway, but Wright stops her.

"Wait, Maya … are you really alright? Do you really want to … I mean … if there's something I can do for you, just say so", he mumbles pretty quiet and with a worried expression on his face.

I can't believe that I almost forgot, that Maya had spent the last three days in a cold, damp cavern, channeling an evil spirit and returning to the living, only to learn, that her mother, who had been missing almost all her life, had now been killed. She had put up a smile for little Pearl, but now that the girl was back in her village, her facade breaks down.

"I … it's alright, Nick. Thank you, but … I'd really like to be alone tonight", she whispers weakly.

"Are you sure? You know, if there is something you need, you can just ...", Wright goes on, but Maya just shakes her head.

"Thank you, Nick, really, but ...", she pulls a book out of her bag and holds it at Wright. It's a children's book and I don't quite get it, but Wright flinches as he sees it and nods understandingly.

"Pearly gave it to me. I think I'll read it today. But I need to do this on my own, okay?"

I try to read the title and find some clues that could help me following the conversation, but "The magic bottle" doesn't quite ring any bells.

"I understand, Maya. Just don't push yourself too hard. When you need something, just come and ask."

Maya nods. "Good night", she smiles again, but it's not convincing anymore. I and Wright whisper an answer and then she disappears behind her door. Now I really feel weird. Maybe it had been a stupid idea to come here after all.

Wright seems to think so, too, as the look he's throwing at me is full of reproaches.

"Well then, I'll be showing you the couch you'll sleep on tonight. Don't forget that you wanted it like that!", he sounds almost hostile.

This wasn't how I wanted this to turn out. I feel a bit guilty for forcing myself on them, when Maya's in such a bad condition. But on the other hand, it was her idea that I'd spend the night here. I almost venture the guess, that she does this on purpose to distract Wright a bit.

He attempts to lead me to the living room, but I refuse to move from the spot. I don't want this evening to end like this, in this weird atmosphere.

So before Wright can react or complain, I just walk through the other door in the hallway, that is obviously leading to his room. Wright stares at me confused before he's following after me.

"H-hey, what the heck are you doing?!", he yells at me.

"So this is the room of a defense attorney, huh?", I mumble after I turn on the lights, "Interesting … really … interesting."

I wonder what I had expected. Something I hadn't expected, maybe. Something embarrassing, something showing off Wright's weirdest hobbies. But there was nothing of this kind. NOTHING. It was clean, had a bed, a closet and a desk, but really nothing else.

If Wright ever set one foot into my room, he would almost get clobbered over the head by expensive Steel Samurai merchandise and other stuff nobody except for me should ever see, otherwise I had to kill this very person.

"Sorry it's so boring ...", Wright hisses at me slightly pissed.

I'm not sure whether I'm able to forgive him for that, even though he apologized.

"Yeah, yeah, …", I don't pay any attention to him. "So where is the hidden mechanism for unraveling your secret S&M-room?"

"What?!", Wright flinches and panics slightly, "What are you thinking, there is no such thing!"

The panic in his voice on the other hand, tells me that there is something hidden here after all. Maybe it's really something perverted. The mere idea excites me a bit.

"Get out of here already, this is not the place you'll sleep tonight!", Wright shouts at me.

Somehow this words are really pissing me off. I can't really tell why, since I was well aware of the fact, that I wouldn't share the bed with this guy, but still … it's making me quite mad to hear that now.

"Oh, is that so? Well, but I'm not done, yet. I hope you haven't forgotten that there is still something we have to clarify", I tell him as calmly as I can.

"What … that?! Now?!", he clenches his fist.

I know, we're all tired and messed up because of all this horrible things that have happened the last days, but my patience has finally found its limits.

"I realize that this might not be an appropriate moment, but I'm afraid there won't come another, so I will break that goddamn last lock here and now and you will finally tell me why you kissed me!"

Wright looks at me disturbed and quite uncomfortable, but then suddenly the corners of his mouth start to twitch and he giggles manically.

"Hahaha, you're really such an amateur, aren't you? Breaking the last lock you say?", he laughs at me.

I don't quite get his point. What is going on with him, has he turned mad now?

"You know that once you stop, you have to _restart from the very beginning_ and _break every lock again_?", he grins at me triumphantly.

I stare at him shocked, my jaw almost hits the floor.

"What?! What's that nonsense? Every lock again?", I can't believe it.

"Well, that's the rules!", Wright smiles. He seems to think that he has won just by this fact. As if.

"So, what? You want us to go through this conversation again? From the very start?", I ask him, making a step towards him.

Wright flinches a bit and his smile fades. He seems to remember the conversation we had and that it hadn't quite gone to his favor.

"You want me to kiss you again?", I go on.

Wright turns red and gulps, his lips are trembling slightly. I almost take it as a 'yes' and want to throw myself right at him.

"I guess we can make an exception then ...", he mutters.

I sigh. For some reason I'm a bit disappointed now. It's not like I've had a certain picture of how this night could turn out, but still it could have had a better ending.

The reason he refused to tell me last time was because he was worried about Maya. Even though I can't really say she's fine now, she is at least safe and alive.

"Listen Wright ...", I lean against the wall, trying to look composed and cool, but actually I'm just afraid that my knees could give in. "If you still refuse to tell me why you kissed me, then at least tell me another thing: Who is it you're having a relationship with? Maya? Or is it that Iris after all? She even confessed to you today in the trial. And Maya is living together with you..."

I'm telling myself that I can just forget this matter once I know the truth. Once I know that he's in a relationship, even if it might be with a convicted criminal. Then I'll just go back to the hotel and … well, who am I kidding? I won't sleep tonight.

Wright looks at me with an undefinable gaze. It's somewhat angry, pissed and sad and at the same time it's none of that. I know that he might be thinking that this is none of my business, but I won't leave empty-handed tonight. I want at least some answers.

Without looking at me anymore he walks into his room and sits down on his bed, his hands disappearing in his spiky hair, his eyes fixated on the floor. Not an unknown sight to me. He often does this in court when he's desperate and believes there's no way out, but somehow this time it's different.

Usually this stature amuses me, this time I start feeling sad. And usually Wright suddenly comes up with something after all and throws everything right back at me, this time the atmosphere is weird. It's almost like he's lost every will to fight and just given up.

"Edgeworth, your words are so full of contradictions and holey statements that I don't even know where to start ...", he suddenly tells me without looking up. I'm confused. This was the least thing I had expected. "I'm disappointed, usually you're so smart, but lately you're just so dense. Maybe being a defense attorney for one day didn't do you any good after all."

I open my mouth to say something, but no words come from my lips. I don't know what to say, I just don't know what is going on. And somehow, even though I'm sure it has to be my imagination, I hear the sound of a bursting lock.


	6. The truth beyond the locks

_Next chapter! Now it's getting a bit ... steamy  
I've lost track of this story now. It might have really been better to write a short one-shot, but now it's too late!  
Well, I hope you enjoy it anyway._

* * *

 **The truth beyond the locks**

 _Edgeworth has finally managed to break the last lock ... somehow! After all this hard work he gets the answer why Phoenix kissed him. But ... is he ready for it?_

"Why would I kiss you? Why don't you just think about it a little? There is only one reason why I would kiss you ...", he looks up to me, with a strict glare in his eyes, but his cheeks are flushed, "and this is not because I like Iris, not because I like Maya … I kissed you because I like _you,_ idiot."

His words hit me like an arrow right to the heart, my legs turn to jelly. Surely I would sink to my knees if I hadn't already searched hold at the wall. I stare at him disbelieving, unsure whether I've just heard right and unable to answer.

"I mean …", he looks away again, his eyes wander unfocused from the wall to the ground and around the room, "isn't it obvious? I … ever since grade school I never was able to get you out of my head. Even though you almost forgot about me ..."

Wright's calmness from a moment ago is gone again. He mumbles and almost stumbles across his own words. But it's not true. I never forgot about him.

"How many times did I try to reach you? But you never answered!", he's nearly yelling at me.

I couldn't. I never understood it myself, but somehow I just couldn't answer him.

"I even started to study law and became a defense attorney. Just so you couldn't run away from me anymore. Just to be close to you. God, I oriented my whole life towards you! And you still believe I've kissed you because I mixed you up with some girl!"

He seems to be mad and confused, the latter is a condition I share with him. Is this really all true what he is saying right now? And if yes … what exactly does it mean for me now?

"I knew exactly who I was kissing back there, the fever didn't make me blind. I just … would have never had the courage to go that far. But seeing you, coming for me all this way, … I just … I just couldn't hold back anymore, it made me so happy."

Wright is almost crying, at least it seems like that to me.

"And then … with the earthquake ...", he gulps and gasps for air, "even though Maya was in a cave that could have collapsed, even though she could have been hurt or even worse … all I could think about was you. And about how I wanted to hold you and comfort you until you feel better. I'm the worst."

His body is shaking, his fingers are running through his spiky hair again. My heartbeat races, I feel it in my whole body. What is going on? Is this really happening?

I was expecting some heartbreaking story about his unrequited love towards Maya and now... it is about me? I … I'm speechless.

I let his words run through my head again and again until their meaning starts to sink in. Maybe he is right... Maybe it was the most obvious thing all along and I was blind. Anxious and gridlocked.

"Wright...", I start, but I have no idea what to say. What do you answer on something like this?

This is the first time in my life I'm in a situation like this. And that with Wright of all people.

I pull myself together and walk towards him while thinking about what to say. The words are running amok in my head. I can't recall the last time in my life that I had been so terribly confused. All I know is, that every time I'm feeling confused, it has something to do with him and I don't know what to think about that. And even less what to feel.

As I'm standing in front of him and still don't know what to say, I panic slightly. He looks so miserable and I know that there is absolutely no reason for him to. I have to say something, to comfort him somehow, but my head is still overflowing with unordered, confused thoughts.

I somehow get myself to put my hand on his shoulder and the next moment, my head is empty. My feet loose hold as the ground disappears beneath them and my knees give in.

I barely noticed the arms catching me and drawing me closer when the earthquake suddenly started and drove my pulse mad in one moment. Everything is shaking, I can't breathe, I can't see, I can't do anything but clenching to the body in front of me.

If I don't, I'll lose hold. I might fall through the floor. The arms draw me on something soft, but still something unstable. I don't even know what's happening anymore. I just know that with every vibration, there's less oxygen in the room and I can't breathe. It's starting to get black in front of my eyes. Maybe I'll faint. Maybe I won't open my eyes ever again if I close them now. Or worse: Maybe I open them and someone's dead. Someone important to me.

"It's alright...", a far-off voice is whispering to me, "I'm here. We're not in the elevator, Miles, you're going to be alright. Everything's going to be alright."

Not in the elevator? Suddenly I feel like I'm being drawn to another world. Another reality. There are two and I'm being torn in between them, from one to the other. The one reality, the one I know so well, is the small elevator. It's dark, there's no air, there are screams, panic, the smell of death. The other reality is warm, soft, my heart beats slower, someone holds me tightly, I can breathe and calm down.

Which is the real one? I can't tell them apart. I feel dizzy. It's like I'm in both realities and in neither of them at the same time. When will it finally stop?

Slowly but steadily the balance shifts. It's almost as if there's some kind of attraction going out from him, that's drawing me closer and closer. My heartbeat calms down, I can breathe again.

How weird. I don't think the anxiousness and panic has ever drifted away that fast after an earthquake of this magnitude. I have long realized that I'm being held in his arms right now, but I can't move.

As long as he doesn't realize I'm fully conscious again, it's okay isn't it? I can stay like this for some while longer.

One of his hands is moving. At first I feel a slight disappointment and cold when it stops touching me, but not for too long. The next moment I feel it again, his big, warm hands, right on my cheek.

I flinch in surprise and draw back. Wright looks at me shocked and slightly guilty.

Quickly I avert my eyes and hope that he doesn't notice my face flushing. My hand almost automatically reaches for the spot he just has touched.

"I... I'm sorry", Wright mumbles, "I didn't mean to make use of the situation or anything..."

I snort. "You're a lousy liar...", I hiss at him.

Why am I doing it again? Trying to hide my embarrassment and uncertainty behind hostility...

"Are you alright?", Wright ignores me and reaches his hand out for me.

Once again I draw back and avoid his touch. Other than that I can't bring myself to more than a nod.

"You're a lousy liar, as well", Wright sighs. He doesn't sound angry like me, he sounds worried.

I'm really the worst, am I not? As I try to get even more distance between the two of us, he suddenly grabs my arm and stops me.

"The deal...", he blurts out. I look up at him confused, having not the slightest idea what he is talking about.

"We had a deal, remember?", he explains to me after seeing my disturbed face, "If I tell you why I kissed you, you would tell me why you kissed me. I did. So now it's your turn."

Oh yes, there was something like this. I look into his big, excited eyes and can't deny myself a smirk.

"You idiot! I bluffed! I don't know why I kissed you myself. And I still don't!", somehow my grin fades away after uttering these words. This hasn't sound half as cool as I thought it would. Actually it sounded pretty pathetic.

"You don't know...?" It also hasn't had quite the effect on Wright I had desired. Wright seems to haven't yet decided which effect this has on him.

"Well then, maybe you'll find out when you do it again...", Wright cocks his head and it almost seems to me that he's repressing his own smirk here.

"Again...?", I'm confused. I can't follow this conversation anymore. The consciousness of Wright having confessed to me just a few minutes ago still lags behind.

"Yes. You asked me before if I wanted you to kiss me again. The answer is yes."

Wait what? Is this really happening?

"That..." What that? Have I been serious? Have I just been saying things to mock him? Have I spent one second on thinking about what I was saying before I did?

The more I think about the motivation I've had asking him something like that, the clearer it becomes to me that I just don't know. I've reached the point where I have lost any understanding of my own actions. Or is it that I don't want to understand them?

As his face slowly comes closer to mine, I wonder if he's right. Maybe I will really understand it all after another kiss. But how can I even think something like this? How could I kiss him? It's not like we are … but why didn't that bother me the last time?  
What was I thinking the last time? Have I been that confused? Or have I been able to see clearer than I do now? Whatever it was, I don't remember anymore.

Thinking about all this makes it impossible for me to grasp the right moment to push Wright back. Before I know it, his nose tip touches mine and I shortly pant for air when I feel his lips on mine.

My eyes fall shut and finally, after the earthquake had already long stopped, the ground holds still even for me. Nothing around the two of us is moving anymore, the only thing that's still moving is my heart. I feel it quickening its pace and the blood rushing to my head.

Totally immersed in his smell and his whole presence, pictures start surfacing in front of my eyes. Pictures of when we first met in court after all these years, pictures of when he opened my eyes to what is truly important, pictures of when he defended me and believed in me even when I didn't and all the other times until I came for him just yesterday. All these emotions I've felt during the past two days, the anxiety and uncertainty about his state, the confusion, the jealousy, the desire, it all spirals inside of me in a flash and makes the new emotion I'm feeling right now even stronger.

An emotion that I've most likely always had inside of me, but of which I've kept running away until now. Or have I just been utterly dumb and blind? I guess I'd choose the former.

Wright and I both have a hard time of getting some distance between each others lips again, but I force myself to draw back. I still have to answer him.

"I guess I did it, because I like you, too", I mumble. For some reason I feel like I'm so drunk that I don't even know pride nor embarrassment anymore.

"You guess?", Wright follows my movements while I keep leaning back to avoid him.

"Okay, I know", I give in. I don't care anymore, my head seems to have decided to go on strike and refuses service. "I love you."

Before he can say anything more, I put my lips right back on his and we both trip over.

We've crossed the borders of innocent kissing. Our tongues touch and my fingertips run across his bare skin. Who would have thought that it would come to this eventually?

As we both draw back for one second and our eyes meet, it slowly sinks in that there is one thing he had been wrong about after all: This will be the place I'll sleep tonight.


	7. The next morning - Edgeworth

_The story continues! If it's for the better or not ...  
Something tells me I should have just stopped with the chapter from last week, but I didn't ... and I don't know whether this is a good thing._

 _You will find out why soon enough. But for now, let's savor the calm before the storm._

* * *

 **The next morning - Edgeworth**

My consciousness slowly returns to me. Or rather it's been drawn back carefully with tender kisses on my shoulder and soft touches. I groan as it becomes apparent to me that I'm about to wake up.

"Good morning", he whispers in my ear with a voice sweeter than sugar. I almost get diabetes.

I turn away from him with another groan. How is a morning supposed to be good when you weren't allowed to wake up by yourself?

It still takes its time until I fully understand the reason why I wake up naked next to Phoenix Wright and his awfully euphoric attitude towards me. Oh right … things … happened last night.

Right now, it all seems far away, but I still remember everything that has happened as clear as day. Just like I remember the emotions running wild inside of me as it happened.

"Let's get up and have breakfast, okay?", Phoenix already sounds wide awake. Just how is this possible?!

"Shut up. Sleep", I answer and try to push him down again rather unmotivated.

"Huh? Sleep? It's already 9am, don't you want to get up already?", Phoenix looks at me confused.

"9am? Are you nuts? It's not even a trial day, why should anybody get up this ridiculously early?", I can't believe that he really had the nerve to wake me up at 9am. And call it "already" on top of that.

"Uhm... ridiculously early?", he mumbles to himself. I can't take it anymore. I'm not in the mood for complex conversation at such an hour. Wrapping my arms around him I force him to stay in bed, my head resting on his breast.

"Sleep!", I order him. Do all defense attorneys have such a wicked diurnal rhythm? Not when I'm here.

"O-okay", he stutters and hesitantly wraps his arms around me himself.

It might just be my imagination, but his body temperature is slightly rising as he does so. I don't have time to think about it as I already drift away again.

I don't know how many hours have passed until I wake up again. This time I'm finally feeling like I've slept enough, even though I still don't have the slightest intention of getting up.

Not even when I hear a familiar voice shrieking in the room next door, I am able to force myself on my feet. At first I'm a bit startled, hearing Phoenix's voice from so far away, although he should be lying next to me, but it seems that he already stood up and left me behind.

Idiot. Serves him right, that I won't get up and look after him to see why he's crying out loud like a girl. Actually, maybe I should just turn around and sleep some more.

I attempt doing so, but it just doesn't feel quite right. It feels empty and lonely lying in another person's bed without him here. Maybe I should get up after all.

Thinking about it, this is just the perfect opportunity to rummage through this place. I'm absolutely sure that there has to be something hidden here, that Phoenix wants nobody to see. Especially not me. There just has to!

But the more I get excited about it, the more it becomes apparent to me that I really have to get out of the warm and comfortable bed to do so. I bury my face in the pillow. It smells like him.

Damn, why did that guy leave me alone? There are so many things I'd be in the mood now for. I'd even have some romantic breakfast in bed with him now. Unmotivated I reach for the nightstand and randomly open some drawers.

The darkest secrets of a person are usually hidden close to the bed. And who would have thought? In the last drawer lies a suspicious looking book.

It seems suspicious just by the fact, that it doesn't look special at all. It's a DIN A4 format and has a blank cover. There's not title, no picture, nothing, just a plain black book.

I reach for it and draw it out of its hiding place. Just touching it makes me feel like I really have found something interesting here, my fingertips already tickle.

Before I dare opening it I weigh it in my hand and turn it around, hoping to find some clue about the nature of this weird book, and then suddenly something falls out of it.

I flinch slightly and pick it up. It's a photograph. Of me.

Gulping I try to calm myself down, to not freak out. This is creepy, isn't it? I look at the book again and suddenly feel completely different about it. What the hell is in there? Why is a picture of me in there? Just what was Phoenix doing with that and where did he even get that from?

I take a deep breath and take the book firmly in my hands. My pulse is rising, this is just so weird. I take all my courage together and open the book. What I see is pretty much the least thing I had expected, despite having expected nothing.

I look at dozens of my faces, but they're no photographs. They are all drawn by hand. This is a sketchbook. My heart stops as I look at the countless versions of me on only one page. I've never seen a drawn picture of myself and they are all – if I dare say so – beautiful.

I flip through the pages of the sketchbook and stare at the many pictures of Maya and Mia and so many other people, some of them I know, some I don't. But the vast majority are pictures of me and in every single picture I can clearly see the emotions Phoenix had towards me as he drew it.

Some have a kind feeling, but some seem pretty bitter and full of anger, a few are even scribbled out.

I can't stop thumbing through it, every single line awes and mesmerizes me. Since when does this good-for-nothing defense attorney draw?! And why is he so good at it?!

Then suddenly it comes to me. Didn't he study art? Back then, before he started to study Law? Just because I didn't answer to his calls and he wanted to see me... This is just … he gave all this up just for me?

The moment this thought strikes my mind, I end up at a picture, that seems to have been drawn only recently. It's a picture of me again, but this time it's not just my face but my whole body, covering a complete page. It's even slightly colored.

My fingertips slide across my face on the paper, I look straight in the air and have no expression on my face, but still this picture is so full of emotion. I almost seem … majestic.

So is this how Phoenix sees me? Unlike the other pictures before this, which were so full of hostility and bitterness that it made my heart ache, this one is completely different. It's full of desire and slight sadness.

God, this guy really does love me, doesn't he? I wonder when he drew this …

Unable to browse neither forward nor backward, I stare at the picture for I have no idea how long. I just realize how my heart skips a beat as I hear steps approaching the door to this room. Quickly I put the book back into the drawer and sloppily shut it again to lay myself back in the sheets, pretending I have slept until now.

Why am I even doing this? I feel like a child that was about to get caught doing something forbidden, even though I'm a grown man!

The door opens and someone steps in. I groan as if I just woke up and raise my head to look at the intruder.

"Breakfast is do-", Phoenix starts, but for whatever reason stops halfway and just stares at me with huge eyes.

I blink several times a bit confused and suddenly the color of his face changes and he topples down sidewise.


	8. The next morning - Phoenix

_Now for a little change of point and view ... and atmosphere. God, how did this it come to this? I just don't know. I'm sorry ..._

* * *

 **The next morning - Phoenix**

I'm awakening for the third time this morning, but this time on my own. I stare at the ceiling of my room and try to understand how I managed to end up here again. What happened?

Let's try to recollect the events of this morning. I woke up the first time at around 8am, being hit by Miles' arm, which landed directly in my face as he turned around. It took me some time to remember the sequence of weird, embarrassing and heart-throbbing incidences that had brought me to that point. Us.

I sat up and stared at him, knowing that I couldn't fall asleep anymore once I already woke up. Somehow, I totally got bewitched by his sleeping face and ended up drawing it for almost an hour, in every possible angle.

At some point I got that used to the situation that he was lying right next to me, that I got in the mood for some cliché-ridden, cheesy morning routine that started with me tenderly kissing him awake and a breakfast in bed.

Well, I failed terribly at this attempt and in the end, he held me so tightly that I had no other choice, but to sleep some more as well. I even managed it somehow, even though my heart was beating twice as fast as usually with him being so … cute? I guess it really was cute.

The second time I woke up was about 2 hours later. It was a mix of bad intuition, experience and a weird smell in my nose that ripped me from my dreams. Miles was still fast asleep, this guy really has a horrible daily routine.

I jumped up, quickly put on some clothes and ran for the kitchen. After finishing this I … oh, right … the memories slowly return to me. I prepared breakfast and wanted to finally wake up Miles, as it was almost lunchtime already and you just can't spend the whole day in bed.

Stepping in my room, already starting my sentence, I heard him moan half-asleep and then he raised his head, looking at me somewhat pissed. He was lying on his belly, his naked body only half covered by the sheets and the way he looked at me just took all the words from me.

Then he blinked several times dozily and the next thing I know is that my heart stopped for a moment, the blood rushed to my head nonetheless and then everything was black and I heard the dull sound of a body hitting the floor.

Now I understand that it was mine. Oh, God. What a sexy view. Damn. I'd love to spend a few hours on just drawing it in every detail, but then I realize, that the real thing should still be wandering about this apartment and I'd love to see him even more.

I jump up and run for the kitchen yet once again, just to find Miles and Maya sitting at the table, happily eating and lively talking about … Steel Samurai?

"And that episode, where Steel Samurai - oh, Nick! Did you finally wake up?", Maya looks at me and smiles.  
Finally wake up? That would mean that I had been sleeping. But I didn't, I was unconscious! Even though it was for a pretty stupid reason, couldn't those two be any more concerned?! Instead of worrying about me, they are sitting here and seem like they have no problem in the world.

"Well, I don't want to disturb you two!", Maya winks at me as she ignores my silence and gets up, "have a nice breakfast!"

Without another word Maya leaves and closes the door behind her. I don't quite know how to interpret this. What does she know?! Miles wouldn't have … would he?

"Morning, Phoenix", he looks at me as he nips at his coffee. It seems a bit awkward.

Now, that I think about it, this is the first time we both are fully awake after what had happened yesterday night. Just how am I supposed to behave now? I start getting nervous.

"Morning ...", I answer him and walk towards the coffee machine to get one myself.

Coffee … I somehow have to think about Godot for one moment. I hope the coffee in prison tastes alright. Even though I'm pretty sure that it doesn't.

"Are you alright? You just collapsed right in front of me. Is it still your cold?", he asks me with a weird undertone in his voice. Or am I just imagining things?

"Uhm … maybe ...", I can't possibly tell him that he's just too hot for me to take. "But I'm fine now. Sorry for that ..."

"It's okay", Miles shakes his head, "you're lighter than I had expected."

Hearing that, it comes to me, that he must have carried me in my bed since I had awoken there. For some reason this makes me blush and I avert my eyes. I still don't know what kind of conversation we are about to have now.

Are we talking about what has happened yesterday? Are we talking about what we are now? Are we discussing our future, about how this will go on from now? I feel like we should properly talk about all these things, but I have not the slightest idea how.

I sit down at the other side of the table, tightly grasping the coffee mug in my hands as if it could give me some hold. How much I would like to know just how Miles thinks about all this.

I put the mug to my lips and carefully take a gulp of the hot coffee.

"Don't you think it's quite funny?", Miles suddenly starts, "a defense attorney riding a prosecutor's dick?"

Everything inside of me pulls itself together simultaneously and I spit the coffee right out of my mouth again. My face must be high red by now. I want to take it back! I don't want to know how Miles thinks about this after all.

He just sits there and smirks at me self-content. I can't believe this guy!

"You did this on purpose! Waiting for me to drink coffee and then -", I almost yell at him.

"What an accusation! Do you have some solid proof to support this claim?", Miles raises his hands and shakes his head, the smirk frozen on his face, "take it as a little revenge."

"Revenge?!", didn't he just admit it by saying that? "What for?!"

"Just forget it, I'd say we're even now", he shrugs.

What is that supposed to mean?! I don't even know what I did, so why should I accept this?

"Next time it is going to be the other way around!", I threaten him and am shocked about my own words at the same time.

Where did this come from? Maybe somewhere in my subconsciousness our role allocation has bothered me after all and this comment has just been the straw to break the camel's back.

"Next time?", I didn't mean to wipe that smirk off his face with this outburst, but somehow I did.  
The thought that Miles feels bothered by the thought of losing the virginity of his butt should amuse me, but somehow I'm troubled myself by the look on his face. It seems like there is another reason for it, some reason I don't want to know about.

"There _is_ going to be a n-"

"Phoenix", Miles interrupts me mid-sentence, calmly but firm, "my plane takes off in two hours."

"What?!", I jump up, slam my hands on the table and shout at him, "you're leaving after all?!"

"After all?", Miles shakes his head, "I never said I'd stay. What happened yesterday doesn't change anything about the fact that I'm living and working in another country and that I have to get back there."

I fall down on my chair again and stare at him with an open mouth. He's right. But still...

"But still..."

What should I say? I love you? I want to stay with you? I want you to stay with me? I want to fall asleep next to you every evening and wake up next to you every morning? Come on, please show me that you feel the same. Just a bit.

"Please, be rational, Wright. What would happen if I stayed here? A defense attorney and a prosecutor? You can't be serious, this just can't work. What if the public found out? We'd both be done for!", he's voice is so cold all of a sudden.

Wright?! When did we return to last names? I thought we've gotten over this! I can't believe that he's doing this right now, I feel the despair building up inside of me. And with it comes the anger.

"You're not going to do this! Miles!", I refuse to play along. "You're not going to make me a one-night stand!"

He says nothing. He just sits there and looks at me, the expression on his face frozen. What is he thinking? What is he feeling? Damn, if I just could look inside this pretty head of his!

"I think I should pack my stuff and leave. I still have some business at the precinct, then I'll go to the airport", he bottoms up his coffee and stands up, "thank you for your hospitality and … everything."

I really can't believe that this is happening. I don't want to. He walks past me, stops for a moment and goes on. I don't see him since I buried my face in my palms.

I remember feeling similar just yesterday, when I thought that confessing to Miles would cause him hating and leaving me right away, but I had no other choice than doing so. That time the whole situation had dissolved into something unbelievable and awesome. Who would have thought, that the true outcome had just been postponed?

What was Miles thinking when he confessed to me and slept with me? Did he just make fun of me? Is it that?

I hate myself for just sitting here, doing nothing to hold him back. I should yell at him, force the truth out of him, block the door, anything to make him stop leaving. Because I don't want him to leave, don't want it to end like this, don't want him to sit inside a plane and returning god knows when. Maybe never. But I don't want him to see that damned tear running down my cheek either.  
How pathetic I am.


	9. The next morning - Maya

_Puh the last chapter was pretty ... agitating, wasn't it? Don't worry, it'll get worse now.  
_

 _I really hope someone manages to get through to the end! Don't give up on me yet!_

* * *

 **... The next morning: Phoenix**

So now we've reached the end of this story? We're standing there and stare at each other, neither of us knows what to say. Or, well, I have a lot of things to say. I'm so pissed at him right now, I'd love to throw tirades of insults and hatred at him. But I decided to be an adult and keep it all to myself, just glaring at him as evilly as I can.

"Maybe it's best I won't have another chance to have a look at it one more time ...", he suddenly mumbles.

I have not the slightest clue what he is talking about, but I've given up making sense of him a long time ago. I'm starting to get the feeling that everything he's saying and doing is just on a whim.

"If you want to go, go already!", I hiss at him. Something inside of me is still hoping that he doesn't want to go, but my bitterness is already swallowing it.

He clenches his fists and keeps looking at me, not making any attempt to do as I said. Sometimes his eyes flash above my shoulder and look at something behind me, but only for a few moments. What's so interesting there? Maya? He sighs.

"Phoe- … Wright. I'm sorry …", he barely gets it over his lips. I wish he hadn't. The least thing I want is to be pitied by him now.

"Then just leave and don't make it any worse!", he wanted it like that, so why does he have such a problem now? I almost want to push him out of my apartment and close the door behind him.

Just as my rage has reached its maximum and I'm about to snap, I see him throwing a weird sign over my shoulder. Startled for a moment, I let my guard down and then … Miles makes a step towards me, grabs my arm and pulls me closer.

Before I can react he puts his lips on mine and takes me in his arms. I put my hand on his breast to push him away, but the strength has already left my body and my eyes fall shut. After all that has happened, this kiss just feels as good as yesterday.

My temperature rises along with my heartbeat and my mind goes blank. Something inside me wants to pull him inside my room and just forgive and forget the past hour, but just as I try to make the kiss more demanding, he draws back.

I gasp for air as I hear a breathed "Good-bye" right next to my ear, but still it feels miles away. My vision is blurry and I barely see him opening the door and disappearing behind it. Just as the door falls shut, it slowly comes to me what just has happened.

"Nick?", Maya's voice is calling out for me, "are you alright? Nick?!"

Unable to answer or react in any way my body sinks to its knees. He's gone. He's really gone. But why? Why did he kiss me?

Almost in trance I get up on my feet again, stumble in my room, close the door behind me and fall into my bed. At least I believe that's what has happened, since I find myself burying my head in the pillow when I return to myself.

Maya is knocking at my door, calling my name, but eventually gives up. I don't believe I locked the door, but maybe she doesn't want to disturb me if I don't want her to.

I'm really thankful for that, I need some time for myself. What was that? I thought I had decided for myself that Miles has just been playing around with me, so why did he kiss me then? And why did he leave nonetheless? What is the meaning of this? I don't understand anything anymore.

Is this the same way he felt when I suddenly kissed him out of nowhere and refused to tell him my reason? Is this another 'revenge'? Does he want to drive me mad?

I stare holes in the air, hoping that some answers might drop out of them and all of a sudden I've regained enough reason to notice that something's actually off. There's something weird about my nightstand, but I can't quite point my finger at it.

It takes me a few more seconds until I realize that the last drawer isn't properly closed. That's weird, isn't that the drawer I have my … wait. I'm getting some serious misgivings.

Pulling the sketchbook out of the drawer, I already feel that something has changed. Something is different. I gulp and open it, not having the slightest idea what would expect me.

I don't have to search long until I find it, my heart almost stops when I spot it. There's a drawing in the sketchbook, that hasn't been drawn by me. It's a weird animal-like creature with something that looks like a hedgehog on his head and a stupid look on his face. Wait … that couldn't be ….

Examining it closer I admit that this thing has a certain likeness to me. Who drew this? Actually … I know exactly that there is only one person that could have drawn that. My face gets high red.

It's at the same page as one of my drawing of Miles. I still remember this one very well. I drew it last week, in a phase I got so overrun by desire for him. I missed him so much that I totally forgot about the resentment I actually felt for him and spent several hours on drawing this picture, even coloring it.

Even though I drew it in some kind of trance, I still remember clearly what I thought when I worked on the expression on his face. A cold, emotionless, yet somehow superior glare staring in the nothingness. Looking at nobody.

But now there's this awkward scribble of mine, right in his view. What is this supposed to mean? No, I mustn't interpret too much into it. Maybe another one of his whims.

If he has seen this sketchbook and his picture, it's very likely that he has also seen all the other pictures, including the ones I drew of his sleeping face this morning. Knowing this, it's no surprise that he'd get pissed and dump me right away. I just wished he would have told me that straight-forward without his excuses.

I sigh and reach out for the eraser, but then suddenly I see something else on the page. It's not a drawing, but just a few words scribbled tiny in the edge. I have to squint my eyes and look really close at the text to decipher it. As I finally manage it, my whole body freezes and I forget to breathe.

'I'll always look at you.'

 **The next morning: Maya**

What a weird, weird day. What a weird weird week. I thought it would all be better after this case was over. A lot of terrible things happened and I spent three days in a freezing cold cave without any food or warm clothes. Even though I was possessed and didn't have to go through this consciously, it still took a great toll on my body. And my psyche. Especially when I woke up in court, slowly figuring out what has happened. I thought it could only get better starting today and now I'm standing in the kitchen and wash the dishes, once again trying to figure out what has actually happened.

All I had wanted was to cheer Nick up. I wanted something good to happen. It was so obvious that something has happened between him and Mr. Edgeworth the time I hadn't been there and also … since I haven't seen him for such a long time I thought it would be nice to spend some time. I only had fun in mind when I invited him to sleep here, I hadn't thought that …

It's still quite a shock when I think about it. I wanted to be a good host after leaving the two of them on their own in the evening and look after Mr. Edgeworth early in the morning, but he wasn't on the couch where he should have been.

Confused I knocked at Nick's door, planning to ask him whether he had already left, but I got no answer. Since Nick is usually awake at this hour, I decided to just open the door and have a peek inside, but … seeing him and Edgeworth arm in arm in his bed caught me by surprise. I think my heart almost stopped there. But it was so cute and I was so happy for them.

I still think it was a super nice gesture of me to stand in the kitchen for over half an hour and prepare a breakfast for them. Okay, maybe it smelled a little funny and had a weird color, but I'm sure that it wouldn't have tasted that bad. Nick totally overreacted when he suddenly showed up behind me, shrieked loudly and threw everything away before it – what did he say? - "becomes alive and feasts on us instead".

Given, his food looked a lot better than mine did, but hey, I'm still learning. We didn't talk about Mr. Edgeworth and Nick didn't tell me a thing about that sudden change in their relationship and I didn't want to ask. I was sure he'd get super embarrassed and even though I liked the thought, I wanted to save it for a better moment.

He went to wake Mr. Edgeworth up, but instead Mr. Edgeworth returned on his own, sloppily dressed and slightly panicked since Nick seemed to have just collapsed on the spot. Worried we ran over back to his room to find him on the floor, grinning weirdly, moaning and saying something so horribly embarrassing and salacious that I don't even dare to think about it now.

To make matters worse he mentioned the name of a certain somebody also in the room and then it all began. I turned so high red, I could have fried eggs on my face and Mr. Edgeworth … Mr. Edgeworth was … well, I didn't see his face, but judging from the way he grabbed Nick and almost threw him on the bed like he was a sac of trash, he wasn't that thrilled.

He just stood there for a couple of seconds and stared at Nick, I was afraid he'd kill him and wanted to just dissolve into thin air, but I couldn't run nor look away.

Then suddenly, Mr. Edgeworth started grabbing his stuff and headed for the door. At first I was startled and slightly relieved, but then I slowly understood what was going on.

"Mr. Edgeworth!", I ran after him, "What are you doing?! You can't just leave!"

I leaped for the door and quickly blocked it, not intending in the slightest to let that little heart-breaker go.

"I know, Nick's an idiot, but … he didn't say that on purpose, so … you can't just leave him for something like that! You're overreacting!", I yelled at him.

"Don't get involved with this, Maya.", Mr. Edgeworth glared at me and shook his head, "now step aside."

"No way! Nick will wake up and have no idea what has happened. And you're gone. I won't let you do this to him, because of something like that!", I got in fighting position, prepared to use any knowledge about martial arts I have acquired from TV shows against him.

"But it's best if I go now. And what just happened has nothing to do with this!", he wasn't intimidated at all.

"What do you mean? Of course it has! Why would you run away then all of a sudden?"

"Listen, Maya …", he clenched his fists, "you must understand yourself that this is just … impossible. There is no future for us, we cannot live like that. If anybody finds out about this neither of us will ever stand in court again. We're both better off if we end this before it starts."

I lost my perfect position. Damn it. I wanted to say something about that, but I knew he was right. Even I could guess what a scandal it would be if a prosecutor and a defense attorney had this kind of relationship. Especially if they were both men.

"But … but that's not fair! If you're truly serious, you can't let something like this get between you!", I told him. Nothing's more important than true love, right? But Mr. Edgeworth just shook his head.

"I certainly won't give up my job for …", he gulped and shook his head, "And I don't want Phoenix to ever give up anything for me again."

Again? I looked at him confused, not quite sure what he was talking about.

"So if you get that, Maya", his voice was cold again, "let me go."

"No!", no matter what he said, I still wouldn't just let him leave like that, "You're a coward if you run away now that he's unconscious. You need to tell him straight to his face if you are going to leave him!"

Edgeworth walked towards me as if to say, that he had not the slightest intention to do so and to frighten me in going away. But I still refused to.

"Please, Mr. Edgeworth", a tear was running down my cheek, but it wasn't for Nick's sake. It was still a left-over tear from yesterday night. "Give him a chance to say good-bye!"

I had really thought that I was doing Nick a favor, forcing Mr. Edgeworth to stay. I didn't think so anymore after I saw his face. This damn idiot. Is that really his way of doing things? Hurting him so much just to make the parting easier … if you can call it like that.

Mr. Edgeworth was behaving like the biggest dick on earth and no matter how hard I glared at him, waved at him and almost threw things at him, he just ignored me and went on breaking Nick's heart.

They stared at each other in some contest of who could make the situation more awkward without saying something. And I felt a bit like the judge.

That was just horrible. Nick was so hurt and depressed, but he was hiding it behind aggression and Mr. Edgeworth was insecure and embarrassed, but he was hiding it behind some emotionless, ice-cold facade that made everything just worse. I could have killed him.

For one moment I thought he'd break down, but he just apologized and I doubt that this had such a positive effect on Nick's state. And then, suddenly, Mr. Edgeworth looked at me and nodded at me a bit weirdly. Even though it was not easy I somehow knew exactly what he wanted from me. He wanted me to turn around.  
And although I was mad at him, I did as he said, hoping, that when I looked at Nick again he wouldn't look so miserable anymore. And once again I was wrong.

There was a sound of a closing door and when I attempted to peek, I saw Nick's slightly flushed face, staring with gaped eyes at the door. I called out to him and he fell on his knees.

I don't know what I saw there with my eyes, I don't know what Mr. Edgeworth did to him, but I hate him even more for it.

Ever since then Nick is inside his room, not answering to me. I don't want to push myself on him, but it surely makes me anxious. I hope he is alright, even though I know he is as alright as I was yesterday evening. Not.

Why did it come to this? Ever since I saw them together the first time in court I was waiting for this moment to arrive. This moment where they both gave in to their feelings for each other. It's disappointing that it really was just a moment.

I sigh and stare at the dishes. It's a fact that Nick loves him and it's a fact that Mr. Edgeworth loves him. So why can't they be together?

Suddenly I hear the sound of a door being hastily torn open. I flinch and grab the plate tightly that I hold in my hands. Nick runs in the kitchen, already out of breath because of those few steps and looks at me determined.

"Maya, pack your things! We're having a long-time vacation … wherever!", he yells at me.

"What … ?", I'm confused and disturbed. Nick's miserable face from many minutes before is gone all of a sudden. What happened? What did he come up with as he was in his room?  
"Don't ask, hurry up!", he tells me excited, "there's a plane we have to catch!"


	10. All that matters

_So here it is, the last chapter of this story! I leave it up to you to decide if this chapter makes it any better or if I should have left it like it was._

 _I seriously had some problems finishing this story. Even now at that chapter I had a few points where I wanted to stop, but couldn't._

 _A part of me still wants to write on, but everything has to come to an end someday. *sigh*  
_

 _Enjoy the last chapter!_

* * *

 **All that matters**

I take a deep breath and exhale again, trying to shut out the voices and noises around me and repeatedly telling myself, that I have made the right choice.

How long have I already been sitting here? My plane won't leave in another hour and I wonder how I am supposed to stay still that long. I've already jumped up a couple of times with the sudden resolve to head back and apologize, but somehow I managed to always get back on the seat again.

It's okay. It might hasn't been the nicest way to end this, but the important thing is, that it has ended.

I close my eyes and try to get together the things I really want for the umpteenth time. What is it that I want? I want nothing to change.

I want Wright to keep loathing and desiring me both just like he did until now. I want to face him in court again and again, want to drive him to desperation and be driven to desperation by him. I want our relationship to be that of a prosecutor and a defense attorney and nothing else. I want to keep my feelings to myself and only to myself.

For this things to happen I have done what I had to do. I had no other choice. I had to break Phoenix's … Wright's heart and mine along with it.

The thing is just … I had never expected that it would be so hard. To see him this broken and full of hatred towards me, it just killed me. Damn, I already miss him. Just how could I fall for him so much? Even now I wished I was still lying in his arms and he in mine. I don't recognize myself anymore and it scares me. So is that the reason why I'm running away?

I'm scared, am I not? Scared of my own feelings, scared of this country where earthquakes are daily business, scared of this man that manages to shake me up more than any earthquake could ever dream of.

I love him. But still being with him makes me losing myself and giving up everything that I'm standing for. And for that I'm loving myself too much. Is it that? Am I to narcissistic for a functional relationship?

The more I think about it, the more I come up with reasons why this ended like it did. And they all come down to my personal incapability. So it's 100% my fault? Well, maybe it is.

I'm fine with that. As long as Phoenix manages to get over this shit somehow and moves on, I'm totally fine with that. He's better off with anyone but me.

I flinch as I hear my flight being called out for boarding. Finally. Once I'm sitting in the plane, it will be much easier to stay there. I sigh and stand up. Time to say good-bye to this place.

"Wait!", somebody is yelling at me. Somebody whose voice I know well. I don't even dare to turn around.

Why? Why is he here? Why did he follow me?

"Please wait!", he yells again, even though I haven't made a move since his first scream. I take a deep breath and turn around, looking into Wright's and Maya's exhausted faces.

They stand there, suitcases in their hands, and pant heavily. Maya looks like she's about to faint. What is going on?

"Why are you here?", I ask him as cold as I manage to sound, even though my heart jumps. Desperately I try to suppress my dumb happiness about the fact that he followed me here.

"Because …", he gasps for air, "I won't let you … leave me!"

I bite my lips and shake my head. What a fool he is.

"Didn't you hear what I said? Have you already forgotten?", I swallow the lump in my throat.

One half of me is seriously happy and just wants to hug him, the other one is slowly getting mad. Does he want to put me through this again? Does he want me to say all these horrible things to him another time? I don't want to do this anymore.

"Of course not! How could I forget that? You've been a huge asshole!", he yells at me and I flinch and look around. There are people here, doesn't he notice?! "But I decided to not care about the things you say. I will only care about the things you do."

The things I do? My eyes widen. I knew it had been a stupid idea to kiss him. I knew it was stupid to draw into his sketchbook. But I just couldn't help it. I just had to. I just had to leave some kind of mark of myself at his place. To prove I was there. And I just couldn't leave our farewell that cold and terrible.

Now I get what I deserve for not being consequent and making a clean cut: Another chance.

"Phoenix … Wright … listen...", god, I'm so confused. I can't do this anymore. I just want to run away, but there's no way to go.

"No, you listen now. You love me, don't you?", he makes a step towards me. He really doesn't seem to give a damn about all the people around us. It's over. I'm done lying and running away.

"Yes, I do", I mumble, my voice almost gives in.

"Then give me one reason why we can't stay together!", Wright is calm. How can he be so calm? I just sigh.

"I already told you..."

"No!", he interrupts me, "I mean a reason that matters!"

I look him in the eyes and don't understand. What does he mean "matters"? What is he trying to tell me?

"Our jobs … people will ...", I can barely form any words. Wright walks towards me and puts his hands on my shoulders, looking me deeply in the eyes.

"As I said. A reason that matters!"

I don't know what to say. No matter how hard I think about it, I just can't come up with an answer that would be sufficient for him. They are all sufficient for me, though.

 _Passengers of Flight 1045 to Munich Airport please board now._

There it is again, my call. Unluckily, Wright seems to have noticed how I just reacted to the announcement.

"Munich? So you are really going to Germany?", he asks me. I can't quite interpret the tone in his voice.

"Franziska is right", I answer reluctantly, "It is just foolish for someone scared of earthquakes to stay in a country where they are part of the everyday life. The biggest natural catastrophes Germany has to offer are typhoons, floods and grumpy Bavarians. I can handle that somehow."

"So this is your reasoning? If you're scared of something it's the smartest thing to run away?", he won't stop looking in my eyes.  
I want to avert my gaze, want to stare at the ground, but I just can't look away. He's really mad at me and I know that he has all the right in the world to be so. But he's wrong. I'm not running away.

I thought about this for a long time and I decided to leave. It was my own decision to keep the things I would loose otherwise. My job, my reputation, my twisted love-hate relationship with this guy. But how come I have to keep reminding myself of this?

Why is it that the closer this guy comes to me the less important all these things get? And suddenly there is only one thing left that I really want. Kissing him. Damn.

"Just so you know, no matter how far you run, I will always follow you. I came here to go with you, just so you know!", his words rip me out of my thoughts.

"No … what...?", my eyes wander towards Maya, her determined face and the suitcases, "wait! You can't go to Germany with me, what are you thinking?"

"Why not?! I just had a pretty harsh case, you know, I think both me and Maya deserve some vacation."

I gulp. I hadn't expected this. Never had I expected something like this. I thought I could just sit down inside the plane and leave everything behind, but now my only escape route leads to a dead end. Okay, maybe he's right. Maybe I want to run away after all.

"Are you mad? You can't ..."

"I'm still waiting for a reason."

There I stand again. A reason. Why can't I think of one? Why?!

"There is none!", suddenly a voice, that I had totally forgotten about already, speaks up. Maya. "You love each other, that's all that counts. There is no reason why you should be apart!"

I snort. This is really something only a woman can say. I refuse to believe the world is pink enough that it honestly works like that. But wouldn't it be nice?

I bury my face in Phoenix's shoulder and wrap my arms around him. When I smell and feel him I calm down. Just like yesterday night, when there was that earthquake, it's as if all my fears are being washed away. I don't feel like running away anymore. I almost think I could stay like this forever.

Phoenix seems a bit confused at first, but then takes me in his arms as well. I just try to shut out the thought of how this has to look like. Two grown men hugging each other at the airport, while my flight is being called out for the third time. Or is it our flight?

"I'm sorry for all the things I said ...", I mumble, "I didn't want to hurt you. I just … had no other choice ..."

Phoenix tightens his hug. "It's okay", he whispers, not even trying to hide that it's a lie, "just don't ever do it again."

I don't say anything, don't even nod. How am I supposed to promise something like that? That's impossible.

Phoenix draws his head back and kisses me. I can't believe he's doing this, in front of Maya, in front of all the people here. But I don't care anymore, I just want to cherish this moment.

So what if he comes with me to Germany? What could be the harm in it? All the concerns and doubts that have never really been there in the first place are now completely washed away.

Maybe Maya is right. Maybe love is really all that truly matters.

"Uhm … Miles?"

Why? What have I been thinking? Is that really all that it takes to change my attitude to the contrary? A hug and a kiss? Now I have that guy sitting next to me for several hours and afterwards weeks to come. WHAT HAVE I DONE?

"What is it?", I sigh. It's not his fault that I'm changing my opinion every five minutes, but still … I'm already practicing being super pissed.

"I just wanted to say … I'm sorry for drawing you while you were asleep."

I look at him confused and squint my eyes.

"What?"

This is the first time I'm hearing about this. He did what?!

"You didn't know?", Phoenix forgets to breath for several seconds and gets slightly blue in the face, "but you looked at my …"

His sketchbook? Yes, I did. But only until that super awesome drawing of me that left me that mesmerized. I didn't go any further. Maybe I should have.

"Forget it … I'm just … uhm … just forget it", Phoenix stutters and quickly looks out of the window, staring at the clouds we pass by.

I can't believe it. The things he said are still sinking in and slowly I realize what this guy has actually done. Is he serious? How am I supposed to ever sleep next to him again when he does such things?!

"Phoenix …", I address him as calm as possible. Who would have thought that practicing being super pissed would prove useful this soon already?

He looks up to me, half curious, half scared to death. What I am about to say now will shift this completely to the latter.

"We have a twelve-hours flight before us and if I were you, I would try my hardest not to fall asleep. Do you understand me?"

My words have just the effect that I had expected. Behind our seats there is someone giggling.

"Whatever you're up to, I'm in!", Maya gives me a thumb up.

"Maya!", Phoenix shrieks desperately.

Well, Phoenix Wright, you've just dug your own grave. Maybe you'll realize sooner or later yourself, that it has been the wrong decision to chase after me. But until then, I will make sure to enjoy every moment with you.

"Whoa! Mr. Edgeworth is smiling!"

Now it's me who wants to shriek "Maya!", but instead I quickly try to get my mimics under control again.

"You're right!", Phoenix looks at me with widened eyes, then smiles at me.

I feel hot, but I don't know if it's the embarrassment or my heart beat that suddenly got crazy. He grins even broader and takes my hand. I gulp. And again my attitude has changed and I'm looking forward to the long flight and the hopefully many weeks that will follow.

 **Owari.**

* * *

 _That's the end! Thank you very much for reading! I hope you liked it!  
_ _Feel free to leave a review or two and visit me at tumblr (bloodylucy93)._

 _Maybe when I get to play the other games or when the anime starts in April I won't be able to resist to write another Ace Attorney story, but we will see!_

 _Until then, maybe our paths will cross in one of my other fanfictions!_


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